Michelle Cunnah (edit name/settings)

Michelle was born in Sheffield, England, at a time when her mother considered "Michelle" exotically French... and then those four boys from Liverpool totally ruined the effect. Her mum has never forgiven them!

Michelle had a very normal childhood—apart from six years spent in Central Africa, where she developed a healthy dislike of spiders, snakes and crocodiles. Or, in fact, anything with big teeth.

She began writing in fourth grade—short stories and adapting well-known fairy tales into scripts. Partly because she liked to spin her own happy endings, but also because it was a means to escape math lessons.

Despite having written "hates math" on every job application form, she was very puzzled to get a variety of jobs in accounts departments.

After meeting her future husband on the telephone, she moved to London where she had more jobs that involved accounts (she never could figure out why). She also temped, waited bar in a Notting Hill gay pub (she met some very interesting people), developed photos (sometimes for famous people, but shhh, she can’t say who), and taught the basics of word-processing and operating systems (MS DOS days, when Spam and cookies were something you ate).

In 2002, after ten years of rejections, and some moving around the globe with her husband, Michelle sold her first book, 32AA. This was followed by the sequel, Call Waiting. Her third book, Confessions of a Serial Dater, is now in bookstores.

After several wonderful years in America and the Netherlands, Michelle can now be found just outside London, England, where she spends her time either attached at the hip to her computer, or struggling to remember the UK English words for cell phone, sidewalk and spackle. If you'd like to find out more about Michelle's antics with travel, telephones, red tape and other life stuff, check out her latest life disaster at her blog, here.

She still hates math…

Here are some FUN FACTS about Michelle. For FUN FAQs, and your questions answered, click here.

When she was about eight and living in Zambia in Africa, Michelle was chased around her back yard by a large, toothsome goose. That day marked the commencement of her Trouble with Animals…

The same year, also in her back yard, she nearly trod on a poisonous black mamba snake. Michelle ran so fast you couldn’t see her for dust.

At around the same time, an animal lover and dedicated follower of The Lone Rangeron TV, Michelle had her first riding lesson. The horse, described as sweet-tempered and gentle, became spooked and bolted with Michelle hanging on for dear life. Maybe the horse saw a black mamba snake, too…

Michelle used to think that bunnies were cute, placid little creatures. Until she was chased around her parents’ garage by the furiously squeaking, teeth-baring Mad Bunny from Hell.

Hamsters are tiny, cute, adorable. Or so Michelle thought, until she saw her mother’s tiny bundle of grunting, biting fury in action.

She also used to think that sheep were cute, placid creatures. Until she was chased by a flock of fluffy white cotton balls on a mountainside in Wales. Maybe they were just coming over to say hello…

Cows. Also sweet, placid creatures, right? Michelle was once chased by a herd of cows while walking across a field in England. Maybe they were just coming over to say hello, too…(Michelle ran very, very fast—a friendly, over-enthusiastic LARGE cow is pretty scary).

Michelle’s faith in the animal kingdom was restored when she acquired Freddie, her first kitty, followed years later by Dolly, Empress of Cunnah. Cats, in Michelle’s humble opinion, are the most wonderful, discerning, intelligent creatures on the face of the planet. Dogs are pretty cool, too (except for that horrible Rottweiler who once chased Michelle).
When not getting chased by animals, her other "hobby" is moving house. During the course of her life, Michelle has lived in four countries and moved house twenty-one times. If the writing career doesn’t work out, she’s seriously considering an alternative career with a removals company. Or as a house decorator.

Originally from Sheffield in the north of England, Michelle is fluent in the Yorkshire dialect and is available for a translation of any confusing phrases in The Full Monty and Calendar Girls.

About my last name, and why I changed it for my Young Adult books...

Quite often publishers like an author to use a different last name or pseudonym when they write in different genres. It’s understandable, because if an author writes horror and romantic comedy, then the readers might get a bit of a shock if they buy a book based on a romantic comedy they read by the same author and discovered it was a horror story instead. And vice versa.

So when my editor asked me to chose a different last name for my Young Adult stories, I was happy to do it and immediately knew which one I wanted to use. (Although I have to say that the tone of my women’s fiction books are also light and fun!)

When my dear old dad was still around, my sisters and I always used to tease him that there but for one vowel change in his name, we’d be the daughters of a famous, fabulous American actor who we all loved (and still do).

My dad was called. . .Robert Radford. :)